TGV Sabotage Chaos Eased as Repairs Progress

France's TGV high-speed trains are gradually returning to normal after overnight repairs on sabotaged signal stations and cables. Vandals targeted key lines on the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games, causing widespread disruption. The French rail operator SNCF predicts continued delays for some routes through the weekend.

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games. The pre-dawn attacks targeted key lines connecting Paris with cities like Lille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg. A separate attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, according to French rail operator SNCF.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility. "On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF stated. " At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," the statement continued.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.

(With inputs from agencies.)